So, in Habakkuk’s first complaint to God, he is saying that Judah (Southern Israel) is due punishment for her sin and depravity. And I love how God essentially tells Habakkuk, “Yeah, I know...and that punishment is coming!” He tells him that Babylon is overtaking Judah. But I love the last thing he tells him in this first exchange, in v11
“...whose own might is their god.”
In the intro, I commented that I read a commentary that said that a takeaway from this book of the Bible is that Babylon’s sin is illustrative of every country’s sin, and even every person’s sin. This gets right at that point - that, our tendency is to call ourselves self-sufficient, to deem ourselves “self-made”, and to assume a sense of autonomy in time, as we become more wise and more successful. Since this is our natural, sin-fueled tendency, we must be careful to guard ourselves against ourselves.
In what ways am I working to hold this tendency towards self-sufficiency in check in my own life?
As I think about that comment about Babylon illustrating our own tendency and sin nature, I also think about their expansion across the known world. Their insatiable desire to conquest and take over every country in site also bears resemblance to our nature. I tend to always reach for bigger, better, etc. Contentment is something that some people are blessed with...but I share this struggle with Babylon.
So, in addition to this question of self-sufficiency, another one would be, “In what ways am I reminding myself to be and training myself in becoming content?”
One area of my spiritual life where I tend to really be more naturally inclined is this...reading, studying, thinking, and listening to God’s word. But, I think that the solution (or at least a big part of it) to these issues of self-sufficiency and contentment rests in the other aspect of a strong spiritual discipline where I am far more lacking - prayer.
Prayer. It is the time when we reach out to God, we declare Him worthy of our praise, we reflect on His provision for our lives, and we communicate our need for Him. I am going to venture to say that my contentment and my tendency towards self-sufficiency has a direct correlation with my prayer life.
So, for today, I am committing to a great time of prayer as I close out my devotional. If just for today, I will training myself to this kind of prayer and reflection. Perhaps in introducing this kind of time of reflection into my morning ritual on a more regular basis I can curb my tendency to be like Babylon in my own life.
